Amnesty

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT AMNESTY - PAGE 2

The Sports Xchange Lakers respond to Cuban's 'amnesty Bryant' comment The Los Angeles Lakers were not pleased that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that the Lakers should amnesty Kobe Bryant at the end of the season. "We're aware of Mark Cuban's comments and feel they are inappropriate," Lakers spokesman John Black said in a statement. "As to the issue itself, we will not comment publicly on the amnesty issue as it relates to any of our players. " The Lakers said they will not file a formal complaint to the NBA, but the league may fine Cuban for his comments.

KIGALI (Reuters) - Amnesty International on Monday accused Rwandan military intelligence services of engaging in torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances of civilians. The human rights group said in a report members of a Rwandan military intelligence department, known as J2, had tortured civilians with electric shocks, beatings and sensory deprivation to force confessions. J2 also held civilians in military detention without charge or trial for months on end, Amnesty said.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi businessmen, expatriates and several countries welcomed a four-month extension to an amnesty for foreign workers with visa violations on Wednesday, saying it allowed businesses to operate as usual in the world's top oil exporter. Saudi Arabia has moved to crack down on its large expatriate worker population to try to improve unemployment figures among Saudis and a ban on tolerating workers with visa violations was due to come into force on Wednesday. But King Abdullah decided on Tuesday to postpone the crackdown until November 3 because of requests from foreign embassies and Saudi businessmen, state media reported.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria offered an amnesty on Sunday to Islamist militants who surrender and said 17 people had been killed on the fifth day of a military operation to try to crush the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast. In their biggest offensive since the insurgency began in 2009, Nigerian forces are trying to chase well-armed militants out of territory they control in remote semi-deserts around Lake Chad, along the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger. They are also pursuing Boko Haram in northeastern cities such as Maiduguri, Borno state, where the sect has cells.

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament on Friday voted heavily in favor of an unconditional amnesty for all those detained or who might face possible prosecution in the current unrest. The amnesty, which means all charges will be dropped against people detained or who might fear arrest for participating in protests, was part of an EU-brokered agreement signed between President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders to end a protracted crisis. (Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki offered an amnesty on Wednesday to tribes who fought the government, but excluded those who had "killed and shed blood. " "I announce the offer of the amnesty pardon for all tribes and for all people who were involved in acting against state to return to their sanity, and they are welcome. We will not exclude anyone except those who killed and shed blood," Maliki said in his weekly televised address. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Maggie Fick)

The Sports Xchange Mavericks amnesty Haywood, likely to bid for Brand The Dallas Mavericks plan to waive center Brendan Haywood using amnesty provision that forces teams to pay the remainder of a player's contract while keeping it off the books for salary cap and luxury tax purposes. Haywood has a salary of $8.3 million for 2012 and is owed more than $27 million over the next three seasons. The Mavericks, in turn, are reportedly planning to commit a chunk of their newfound cap room to sign Elton Brand.